As the presidential race heats up in its final days leading up Tuesday's all important date, so too it seems is the build up of new hip-hop releases. Typically as the calendar year nears its end the momentum of album releases increases but this year there seems to be even more than in recent previous years, especially hip-hop on vinyl releases as witnessed by the ten new album releases listed here. Just over the past month of 2016, as well as ahead into the remaining eight weeks of the year, there's a wealth of quality 2016 hip-hop vinyl full length album releases. Many of these are reissues but 2016 has given us more new releases on vinyl than previous years in memory. These include all the upcoming Record Store Day 2016 releases on Black Friday Nov. 25th. [Be sure to closely study the PDF list of exclusive RSD upcoming releases] A sign that record labels are again taking vinyl seriously is how the LP release date is not always staggered to come three or more months later than the CD/digital release of an album. Of the ten new vinyl albums this week listed here, about half of them brand new album releases to any/all formats. Where available the CD purchase link is listed in addition to the LP/vinyl link. All LP and CD purchases from Amoeba's online store enjoy Free Shipping anywhere in USA.

With newly spiffed up album releases to suit every taste, we're excited about this week's latest group of vinyl reissues (and a few CD reissues for good measure). The albums hitting our shelves this week include old favorites from Bright Eyes, a legendary Pink Floyd album, classic Aerosmith, some essential Stevie Nicks, expanded versions of releases from the Blind Boys of Alabama, and more Bon Jovi than you can shake a stick at.

Here's what's on our radar:

Bright EyesFevers & MirrorsCD | LPLifted, Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The GroundCD | LP

Two career-defining albums from Conor Oberst have been remastered by the legendary Bob Ludwig, and are now available individually in both CD and vinyl formats after coming packaged together as part of this year's earlier The Studio Albums 2000-2011 box set. Both albums have been featured in roundups of the Best Albums of the 2000s -- Lifted by Rolling Stone and Fevers & Mirrors by Pitchfork, who called it "Bright Eyes' defining LP."

-- By Kai Wada Roath
Ambassador of Confusion Hill and host of the Super Shangri-La Show

As the story goes, when the young thief Abu awoke on a deserted beach and discovered a strange bottle washed upon the shore, he had no idea it would be holding a powerful djinn prisoner inside. The djinn, once released with a rub, would offer to grant Abu three wishes beyond his wildest wonders. Abu’s first wish, naturally, was for a plate of delicious, sizzling sausages. His second wish was for a quick lift on the djinn's shoulders to a sacred temple at the top of the highest mountain in the world where he would swipe a giant mystical jewel named the All-Seeing Eye. His third and final wish...a copy of the Magical Melodies 45, pressed on purple swirled colored vinyl (limited press of just 500)!

Much like the inscribed mystery stone of Oak Island, the Peralta Stones of the Superstition Mountains, and Drake’s Plate of Brass, if there was music that should be buried in a time capsule for alien archeologists to later unearth to be deciphered to represent our culture, this record would undoubtedly be it.

A remarkable compilation of four musicians from lands near and far, all the songs on this 45 were recorded acoustically, and they are as raw as the roast beef that my little toe likes to eat. For those who enjoy a little psychedelic voyage for their ears, the record was mastered together like a sorcerer’s soup by Greg Ashley of The Gris Gris and The Mirrors.

For this hip-hop flashback to 1994, we take a look at a variety of rap/hip-hop charts spanning various times throughout that wonderfully rich twelve months in hip-hop history twenty two years ago. Including singles, extended plays and album releases, these charts or lists are comprised of both national and regional (with a focus on Bay Area), and based on either sales figures or radio airplay. Since the charts listed are not for all of 1994 and tallying year end figures, but rather sample charts from various weeks or months throughout that year, they tends to give a better overall (or at least alternative) view of hip-hop in the Nine Fo' compared to the usual "best of '94 hip-hop" lists of releases you find online. Interspersed with some corresponding music videos, the 1994 charts culled from several different sources. Among the 1994 charts below is one from longtime leading music industry magazine Billboard. Based on retail sales from the week ending September 17th, 1994, it is their Top 40 "Hot Rap" singles chart. That the music industry publication referred to the genre as "rap" and not "hip-hop" demonstrated how the music was still generally referred, even in '94. Another Billboard chart (albeit not strictly rap) below is their "Regional Heatseekers #1's" chart that highlighted buzz-worthy, hot selling, number one charting releases from various regions round the country. Rappin' 4-Tay was number one in the Pacific region Also below is the first top 20 of a top 40 Gavin Rap chart from now defunct, San Francisco based, radio trade industry magazine Gavin Report. and compiled by rap editor Thembisa Mshaka.There's three charts from the long gone Oakland one-stop distributor Music People (who ownedIn-A-Minute Records) whose former employee (later DogDay Records co-founder) Jo Treggiari prepared the three charts below: "Down In Our Hood" which was all local Bay Area (including a lot of carry over from '93 releases). "MINI'S" which was singles and cassingles (cassettes as it was still middle of the 90's), and "MAXI'S" which were EPs or more typically extended single versions with formats including cassette, CD, and vinyl.

The other charts included are from the (long gone but still missed) Leopold Records on Durant Ave. in Berkeley near the UC campus and Amoeba Berkeley (in fact many former Amoebites worked there). Leopold's was legendary for hip-hop fans. People would travel from all over the East Bay and beyond to shop at the amazingly well stocked store for their in-depth, exhaustive choices of both local indie and national releases. Consequently what homegrown music was popular with Bay hip-hop fans is reflected in their "Local Legends" full-length albums top 30 list from June of '94. The mid 1994 published list included a lot of 1993 carry over releases as well as the 1994 album via Sic Wid It/Jive from Celly Cel:Heat 4 Yo Azz which was their hot-pick "Bump of the Month." Note that most Bay Area albums listed on that chart were on CD and cassette only with not that many vinyl formatted. At this stage Bay Area was less vinyl oriented than hip-hop coming out back East. Other '94 charts below include the Top Ten KMEL radio airplay based one from the first week in September that note includes some R&B as well as rap/hip-hop. Another radio chart is one from my old KUSF San Francisco radio show charts from February 1994. You will notice how many names show up repeatedly on different charts. These include artists such as Fillmore, San Francisco's Rappin' 4 Tay, Queensbridge legend Nas, and San Francisco's Herm Lewis. Activist/artist Lewis curated the Tryin To Survive In The Ghetto: San Francisco Compilation which, although released in '93 was a sleeper that blew up into '94 on a local and national level. And his Bay rap compilation was not alone since, it being '94 when the West Coast era of rap (with lots of G-Funk and more) was well underway, there's numerous more Left Coast artists included in these charts such as Eazy-E, Warren G, Ice Cube, South Central Cartel, Above The Law, andCoolio. Further being it was the tail end of the genre's so-called "golden era," it consequently included such records as Gang Starr's "Dwyck." It was also the year in which Bad Boy was beginning its chart reign with former secular rapper Craig Mack's "Flava In Ya Ear" via Puff Daddy's then one year old Bad Boy Entertainment record label leading the charge as the label's first single. That video is immediately below and followed by the chart from Billboard with it as its number entry.

Halloween has always been important to us at Amoeba SF because we understand the true meaning of All-Hallows' Eve: costumes and candy. What's that you say? That's not a meaning but rather just the plural of two objects? You've obviously never spent Halloween with us. We take these two concepts very seriously and have elevated them to an artform...no, more like an ecstatic ritual.

Mixing the ever-popular combo of music and costumes (for reference, please see Monks, The Mummies, Thee Cormans, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and Daft Punk), Guest DJ’s Camry and Tundra of the band Toyota joined us on stage at 4pm to get the festivities underway with a spooky, kookie set of untraditional Halloween songs. An hour later, we held our infamously competitive costume contest, which was hosted by R2D2 (and he's really in demand these days). Contestants were forced...I mean asked nicely to walk the "catwalk" (aka rock floor) and show off their fabulous costumes. Each was more stunning than the last, as the mixture of staff and customer contestants paraded through the store. But there could be only one first place winner. After grueling deliberation by our Amoeba judges, that winner turned out to be none other than Suzanne Pleshette from the 1963 film The Birds.